When the Full Moon Rises
by Ron W.312
Summary: After Sand survives the attack of the Bull Dogs, Spot wants to keep an eye on his little sister so he asks Jack if she can stay. When the past starts to haunt her Sand turns to her family in Manhattan. *read Once Every Blue Moon*
1. Chapter 1

AN: Alrightey my newsie loving fans as you can guess I'm writing another story but this is the sequel to Once Every Blue Moon( if you haven't read OEBM I suggest you do :] just so you understand what's going on). I read the whole story over recently and decided it didn't end right and that there's a lot left in the open so to appease my need for newsies (and hopefully yours too) I present to you When the Full Moon Rises.

**Chapter 1: The True Meaning of Death**

Sand could hear things being said but they were faint and her eyes were too heavy to open. Suddenly she started moving. The movement shocked her but she only felt a dull pain. She thought it felt more like being kicked while you're wrapped in a big fluffy blanket. Then a voice broke through and was clear and loud unlike the others. "Whe'e de taken her ta?" She recognized it as Spot before she knew what was going on. Everything flooded back and her eyes flew open as all the sounds overwhelmed her senses. The pain that radiated from her stomach was a lot more like the feeling of being hit by a train than a blanket now. She realized now that she was being carried but the men that were carrying the stretcher refused to let her sit up and see where she was at. She turned her head from side to side the best she could and saw the crowd of newsies that cased after them to God knew where she was being taken. As the group busted through some doors of a building ,Sand had no idea what it was though, the people carrying her yelled orders like, "Get the doctor!","Hurry she's lost a lot of blood!" and other things along that line. Then a wave of dizziness came over her and she heard someone say something but couldn't quite make it out after the room fell dark as her eyes closed again and the blanket wrapped around her again.

The doctors tried to get the pesky news boys to move away from the unconscious girl but it was nearly impossible. Two boys told a lot of the others to go and sell the papers and that they would take shifts to make sure she would be ok. A nurse watched as the doctors worked frantically to try and help the poor girl but she couldn't tell truly what was happening to the girl. The nurse had seen them bring in a boy not much older than the girl on the stretcher but even she, an untrained nurse, knew he was gone before he was even in the doors. The doctors backed away but as the news boys started to close in the doctors said it might be best to put her in a room to recover and that she shouldn't be around to many people in such a state.

As a few of the nurses carried the girl down one of the main hallways she approached the boys and said, "They're taking her to the West wing. That means the doctors believe she'll live. You see the put her in the direction in which the sun sets. I believe they think that if you are more likely to live they put you away from the direction in which the savior will supposedly come."

"What are yous talken about lady?" asked the shorter of the two.

"Spot no need ta be rude." said the tall on with a cowboy hat laying easily on his back.

"Well to answer your question many believe that Jesus, when he returns will come from the east that is why tombstones face the east." replied the nurse. "Now I'm afraid I must go."

As the blanket fell away from Sand she wasn't overwhelmed by noises and screams and pain. Instead she felt warm, quiet, and only a faded pain. As Sand attempted to sit up a nurse walked by and saw her struggling. She waved a nurse over to help Sand get comfortable and ran to some place at the end of the hall. She had just gotten settled when the hallway nurse came back but she had someone with her. With a sigh of relief Spot ran over and nearly choked her to death.

"I swear to God. yous eva do dat again and I will personally kill yous." Spot said in her ear but when she saw his face there was nothing but happiness.

"Spot you know I can't control when a psycho tries to kill me." Sand replied with a smile that reflected how she felt.

One of the nurses cleared her throat and explained, "You lost a lot of blood that is most likely why you went in and out of consciousness. Lucky for you, you only had to have some stitches. As far as we know there was no internal damage."

"What?" Spot and Sand asked.

The other nurse sighed and re-explained, "You had to get sewn up. We can't tell if there is anything was damaged deeper than your skin. Got It?"

"Yes. A lot easier to understand when you aren't being all medical about it." Sand replied.

"Hey. When can she leave dis place?" Spot asked just before the nurses turned to leave.

"Well she's awake now. The doctors will want to keep her over night just to be sure everything's going well when you're not sleeping for a week." a nurse replied and walked out she and was followed the other nurse.

"Spot how long have I been here?" Sand asked confused.

"Well…umm… It's been about two weeks since da acciden' but you kept wakin' up every few hou's the first week but yous been out cold fa a good week." Spot said cautiously.

"Two. Weeks." Sand said in disbelief. "I ain't stayin' here any longer."

Sand tried to get out of bed but was stopped by Spot holding her down. "Yous has been here fa two weeks you can wait one more day."

"Fine…but yous better let me at least walk by myself out da door." Sand said quickly.

Spot gave an approving nod and sat on the edge of the bed. To start conversation he started talking about what had happened since she was in the hospital.

"Not a lot has happened. Long Island nearly had a he'at attack when de heard but Mush, Race and Blink kept it down. Da Bulldogs ain't to happy neither. They been soakin' nearly every newsie since what happened. Nearly all da newsies in New York are hardly workin' waiting to see if da mighty Sand is still alive."

"Well is she still alive, Spot? You must finish your grand story of destruction." Sand said jokingly.

"I don' know. Are ya still alive?" Spot replied with as much laughter in his voice as Sand had heard in a long time.

"Well I suppose she's gotta be. I check out for two weeks and New York's gone ta h'll. I'm disappointed Spot." Sand couldn't hold the laugh that was building up.

AN: So what do you guys think?I would love to know so tell me.


	2. Chapter 2

An: So I'm trying to be quicker with the chapters than I usually am. so here's chapter 2!

(P.S I own nothing of newsies…I forgot the disclaimer in the first chapter too so this counts for both of them.)

**Chapter 2: Going Home**

Sand woke up the next morning feeling like the world was in her hands and no one could take it from her. She had to shake Spot awake and was ready to go before he even knew it was morning.

"Today is the best day." Sand gave with a smile as they walked down the hall.

"The nurse said yous might want ta take a easy for a few days." Spot told her smiling but obviously concerned.

"Don't worry Spot. I'll be just fine in Long Island. All da guys won't-" Spot interrupted.

"Sand I'd fe'l beta if yous stayed in 'Hattan for a little while."

"But Spot…I need ta go back."

"I know. It's just..." He turned to her and said, "I ain't to confaden' in Long Island right now. Will ya please just stay close fur a few days?"

Sand realized what he meant. HE was afraid something else would happen and nearly kill her again. With a sigh she said, "Fine, but Spot da boys at Long Island won't let nothin' hurt me. You has ta know that."

"I do…I just- What if I don' make it in time if dis happens again?" Spots eyes turned glassy and he couldn't hide this emotion from his sister. She wrapped her arms around his neck and hugged him. He would of never of wanted a hug especially in Brooklyn where people saw his only weakness. He would usually push her away but this time he accepted it and wrapped his arms around her waist. Her side gave only a slight cry but Spot must of realized he was hitting her side and let go quickly. "Sorry Sand. I forgot."

"Shut up and hug me ya lousy bummer." Sand said smiling.

They stood in the hall for god knows how long. When Jack stuck his head around the corner to see what was taking so long Sand said, "Beat it Cowboy." But Spot let her go.

Realizing the confusion on her face he said with a sly smile, "Wes gotta get goin' or we'll miss all the papes."

"Papes? Really Spot you're my brother I know when you're lying ta me. I'll go with it though."

Sand followed Spot down the hall and through the doors of the hospital. Sand realized then that she didn't know where she was when she was in the hospital but the familiar buildings filled out the map in her head and she knew she was in Long Island.

"Long walk ta 'Hattan, Spot." Sand's voice revealed only a fraction of the nervousness she felt about walking that far with her stitches.

"Lucky for ya Jacky-boy brought company." Spot said with a funny little smirk.

Within seconds of Spot saying that Jack waved them out of the alley they were hiding in. Sand saw Blink walk out first followed by Mush and Race. At the end she saw Skittery staring at his feet walking slower with only the slightest limp from his own war wound. She saw the change in their faces almost immediately. Sand knew they probably expected worse. Blink was the first of the group to reach her and he asked, "Ya feelin' ok?"

"Yeah Blink. About as ok as someone can feel. Now are you gunna hug me and tell me t'ank god I'm alive or just stand there lookin' stupid?" Sand said with a smile. He gave her a quick hug so she could talk to everyone else. Mush and Race did mostly the same thing, how ya doing and a quick hug. When Skittery finally reached her she could tell he hadn't slept well if at all. She looked quickly around and realized that the others were heading for Manhattan already but not too fast.

Sand slipped her arm through the hole his made with his hands stuck in his pockets. They didn't talk for the first few minutes. Sand was the one who broke the silence, "Skittery you don't look to good." He gave her only silence in return. "Skittery please talk ta me. If anyone as the right not to talk it would be me and I want ta talk." Her thoughts travelled back to that day at the corner and her heart seemed to tighten at the thought.

"I don' wanna talk." He replied never taking his eyes off his feet.

Sand stopped and used her hand to force him to look at her. Staring him straight in the eyes she said, "Listen ta me. This isn't your fault. Yous keep acting stupid and I'll go talk ta Spot and Jack and everyone else who wants ta talk. Do you understand?"

"Yeah yeah, yous say it ain't my fault but it is." Skittery said ripping his head away from her hand.

"How on earth is dis your fault?"

"If I wouldn' of come Jo wouldn' of used da knife. If I wouldn' of…of cared so much you wouldn' of cared. It's all my faul'." Sand realized Skittery's eyes were tearing up.

"Well he'es the truth somewhere in dat fight Jo woulda been dumb enough ta pull that knife and someone else mighta gotten hurt or killed and he would go away happy as he can be. Second even if you didn't care I woulda probably still care fur you even more dan I do now. So shut up wit this my fault crap and man up. We all have ta die. Some sooner dan later but we all know dat we is better fur knowing each other than not."

Sand looked around and quickly realized that the group ahead of them had stopped to listen to her rant. She looked around at the faces and the buildings. All their faces showed the same emotion. It was a mixture of understanding, happiness with a touch of confusion and sadness. The buildings revealed that they were closer to Manhattan than Sand realized which meant Spot would be leaving their little group sooner than Sand would want.

"Come on it's still early. We can catch the morning round if we're quick." Sand said and broke through the line of newsies in front of her.

She could hear Spot telling the others where she had gotten the last part. Sand didn't have to listen she knew it. The doctor had let her and Spot go into see their mother. He usually wouldn't let them but he did this time. During that visit that's when their mother told them that she was going to be gone for a while. Spot asked if they would see her again and she said in a small voice 'Not for a long time I hope.' Sand was still confused but Spot seemed to understand the meaning. It took Sand a bit longer to put it together but when she did she looked to Spot and he gave a slight nod to show her guess was right. Their mother was dying. Sand and Spot were crying after their revelation but their mother told them to quite down and that they would bother the neighbors. They tried to stop but tears kept flowing even though they tried to stop. That's when she said 'We all die at some point in time. We shouldn't cry tears of sadness. They should be of joy, joy for knowing the person that was lost. Sadness will come first and may stay for a while but joy of the memories will soon take over the sadness. Remember my dear little Spot and Sand, death is nothing to fear when it comes. Death will bring us together again, one day.' She was quiet for a little while, but then asked if they understood. They both gave a sad slow nod and clung to their mother. The nurse outside nearly had to pry both of them off.

By the end of the story, the group had reached the outskirts of Manhattan. Sand was quickly wiping away the few tears that refused to stay in their unreleased dam. Then arms appeared on her shoulders and turned her to face Spot. She could tell the story was still hard for him too. he mouthed the word _Joy_ she gave a slight nod and smiled with a laugh.

"Sand I gotta be leaven soon. Don' get inta too much trouble." Spot said returning her smile.

"What trouble would dat be Spot?" Sand asked sarcastically.

He gave her a quick hug then headed off to Brooklyn. Sand's stomach gave a sad little twist as he walked away but knew she was closer to her brother in Manhattan than she was in Long Island. She continued into the heart of Manhattan with her group of newsies making their way to the Circulation Platform. They were only an hour later than usual but took less papers just in case. The perfect story came to Sand's head. _ Please sir buy one of me papers. I have ta pay for the hospital bill or me family will lose da house._

Her plan worked. People nearly fell over to buy a paper from the sick girl that could lose her house. After each sale she'd say something like God bless you or thank ya. Skittery still seemed amazed at how she could sell papes like it was nothing.

"It just don't make no sense. No one else can sell dat many papes but ya do it like yous is sellin' air."

"Practice me dear Skittery. Practice." was all she ever replied to that sort of thing.

They were walking along the road heading for the lodge because Skittery insisted that Sand take a break and rest so she doesn't do something to mess anything up. Sand didn't want to admit it but she did feel like she could take a nap. As Sand arched her back to get rid of a kink she heard a voice, "Back ta the world of the livin' then Sand?"

She turned around and saw Oscar not too far from her. "Ta be honest I neva left it. It's getting' cold Oscar. Shouldn't ya be getting' ready fur hibernation?"

"Your sense of humor seems to be fully intact. Don't know why people thought you were dead. Maybe it's cuz you were stabbed then just disappeared for two weeks."

Sand gave a sneer but just before she could say anything Skittery was behind her saying, "Beat it Oscar. We don't have time fu a lousy Delancey ta bother us. Speakin' of which where is ya lousy good for nothin'-" but Skittery was stopped by a punch in the face by Morris.

"Well Skittery I'm right he'e." He said before he and his brother started beating Skittery up.

Sand gave a sigh wondering what she could do that wouldn't be too dangerous and wouldn't scare Spot too much. Then she realized something. The Delancey's were both keeping their heads down so she did what first came to mind. She put her hands on the back of their heads and brought her hands together. They fell pretty quickly but when they started to get up she used all the power in her voice to say, "That is enough. I don't have the time or energy to deal with either of yous twos taday so stay on the ground till we are outa sight or so help me god I will pulverize you two even if it hurts me ta do it. Got it?"

They both gave a scared little nod. Sand turned to help Skittery up. Once he was up and walking Sand realized his limp was a bit worse than it was before. "Do me a favor Skittery. Don't fall on me." She gave a sigh and put her hand over the stitches. It didn't hurt to bad but it was enough to bother Sand.

"Is everything alright?" Skittery said staring at her hand resting over her stitches.

"Yeah, no need ta worry. I think we could both use some rest. Whatdaya think?" Sand said with a little laugh.

"Yeah, it probably wouldn't hurt." Skittery said relaxing just a bit when Sand laughed.

When Sand reached the bed she'd be in for the next few days she just let herself relax. She willed each mussel to unknot itself and let her eyes shut for a few moments. When she opened them again she realized Skittery wasn't in the room, but on the way up the stairs she heard footsteps come up behind her. Uneasiness quickly settled in the pit of her stomach. She got out of bed and stared at the dark parts of the room that the early afternoon sun didn't reach through the windows. That's when a shape emerged from the darkness. One Sand never wanted to see the first day she was fully awake or at all for that matter.

"Gabriella, darling, we need to talk." Her father said his face still in darkness.

AN: Well there's chapter 2 off the list of how many chapters. Have any questions or don't understand or anything please don't hesitate to tell me.


	3. Chapter 3

AN: Yet another chapter. I'm so proud of myself. Well anyway here you go my newsies fans. I own nothing of Newsies but love it to death.

**Chapter 3: High Times, Hard Times**

"Getta away from me." Sand said backing away toward the stairs.

"Darling, please. You were confused when you left. Don't worry nothing will get you when you come and stay with me." Her father said soothingly walking slower than she was after her.

"And who says that I wants ta go wit' you? Cuz I don't so stay away from me."

"Don't be silly. Of course you-" Her father started but was interrupted by someone scraming.

"SAND!" she recognized the voice but knew her father didn't.

As he was trying to place the voice with a face Sand ran down the stairs and grabbed Skittery but before she reached the door there was a huge guy standing in front of it. Sand was panicking which caused her stitches to give a painful sting. She was breathing to hard and her stitches weren't supposed to stand much more than a stroll through the park. She did her best to calm down but she couldn't stop panicking. Her adrenaline was pumping and she knew it wouldn't stop for a good ten minutes. She heard the footsteps and knew her father was coming. That's when she heard voices yelling at the lug in front of the door. She prayed the other newsies would get inside soon. She was watching the door. That's when a foot came between the guys legs and kicked up causing him to double over and let enough room for Mush to jump over him. Someone grabbed the guy's collar and pulled him back so the door was mostly cleared and in came Jack, Race, Blink and a lot of other newsies. By the time her father was at the bottom of the stairs there were at least twenty newsies crammed in the small front room. Sand saw a look of fear pass over her father's eyes. Then it was replaced with a look of superiority.

"Boys, I've come to collect my daughter. So if you will move aside I won't have to do anything that you will regret."

"Yeah sure." Some of the newsies said quietly.

"Let me asks yous sometin'. Do ya know whe'e ya precious daughter has been fur the past…oh…two weeks?" Race said confidently in the front of the pack that separated Sand from her father.

Sand's father looked baffled. "I assumed with you."

"Well ya assumed wrong." Race said showing no sign of humor in his face.

"Dear where have you been?"

"Well she's been in the hospital." Jack said promptly.

"Good heavens what for?"

"Now dat is none of yur business. It was only tol' ta the family of da ill. The nurses even said." Mush said with hard eyes.

"But I am her family." Her father said blankly.

"Nah. You ain't no family ta anyone. Family sticks which ya till the end. They don't go runnin' off when times get har'." Jack said quickly smiling at the look on the man's face.

Sand's father just stood there taking all that was said in. He seemed slightly confused and taken aback at the same time. Finally he straightened his back and walked out. When he reached the door he said over his shoulder, "You picked the hard way then." and walked away without a look back.

Sand heard the cheers but her vision was coming and going with black spots taking over. She quickly moved over to the wall and slide down it. When her butt found the floor she hugged her knees. She just breathed in and out slowly hoping it would clear the spots. She sat there for a minute without anyone knowing she was there. When she felt the warmth of someone sitting next to her she knew that no matter what happened she always had family here. Even when they were being stupid and acting silly it was because they cared for her and they had a permanent place in her heart. She lifted her head slowly glad to see the spots had left and were replaced by concerned faces.

"Yous ok, Sand?" Skittery said quietly next to her. She knew the others were wondering the same thing.

"I'm fine. Don't worry about me. You on the oder hand Skittery, look like hell." Sand said with a smile and was glad to sense the happiness fall on all of them.

Sand, still smiling, looked down at her clothes. She realized she was wearing the same stuff she had on during the accident. The hole in her shirt didn't really show the stitches that were hiding there though. She put her fingers through the hole and thought _This won't work well. Winter's just around the corner and I have a hole in my shirt._ Jack realized what she was doing and asked quickly, "Anyone gots a shirt Sand can use?"

"Here's one." Kloppman said from behind the desk. "Have at keep some stuff for the new kids. Not that any come around dese days."

Jack took the shirt from Kloppman and handed it to Sand. She rubbed her fingers together and felt the rough fabric. It wasn't too different from her old one other than the color. The one she had on was a cream color that still held a bit of red tint around the hole. The other was more of a navy blue but it wasn't too dark.

"I'll be back." Sand said getting up regretting she even stood.

Sand went up the stairs as quickly as she could but that wasn't more than what seemed like a child just learning how to walk but she was in the quiet, empty room sooner than she thought she would. She took her black suspenders off her shoulders and let them rest against her dark drown pants and quickly switched shirts. The new shirt was a bit too big for her but she didn't mind. She rolled the sleeves up to just below her elbows and tried to tuck in the excess shirt but when it refused to corporate she tucked what she could in and let the rest do whatever it wanted. When she was done she stared at the limp shirt that was lying on the bed that she had had since she was little. She smiled remembering the day Blue gave it to her. He was the only one that was even close to the same size as her but it was still far too big. She even told Blue it could have been a dress the first day she put it on. Now she realized it was the only thing of Blue's that she had or anyone had for that matter. Blue didn't like to keep a lot of things. If he had extra of anything he would give it to someone else. Blue always said he had a perfect life and giving his extra stuff to someone was bring them a step closer to where he was. Sand couldn't help but smile at the thought. She picked the shirt up and walked down a few rows of beds and placed the shirt under her pillow. When she turned she heard several voices screaming something. Sand assumed it was something like we're coming.

She was right in a few seconds Jack came up with his hands over his eyes but clearly trying to look through his fingers. Behind him was Blink covering his eye patch screaming "I can't see! God save me from my blindness!" She also heard Race taking bets downstairs to see who would get punched first. Sand gave an eye roll and a chuckle. She couldn't help it. They were being stupid. Sand snatched her hat off the bed and realized it matched the shirt, but decided not to put it on, at least not right then.

"Are ya just gunna stand there or am I gunna have ta move you idiots?" Sand said. When they gave her a fake confused look she motioned her head over to the stairs with an eyebrow raised. They headed down the stairs looking defeated but when Sand headed down they were smiling and looking pretty happy. When Sand reached the bottom step she just sat. The others didn't know she was down the stairs. If they did no one showed any sign of her being there. It was like a little party. She smiled for many reasons. One was from knowing the worst for the day had to be over. Another was her just thinking of Blue upstairs. And the last one was from seeing how happy everyone was now that they knew she wasn't dead.

When she stood up and put her hat on she seemed to stop the party. They all stopped to look at her. "Don't just stand dere ya bummers. Dere are papes ta be sold and no one sellin' them." After she said that they all headed for the door and she heard them mumbling something. She was confused a bit on why though.

"It's cuz ya look like Spot." Skittery said with Jack, Race, Blink and Mush by his side.

"Well of course I do. I'm his sister." Sand said quickly.

"He means dat ya don't usually look likes you two could be twins like ya do now." Jack said trying to explain.

"Well I suppose we'll jus' have ta use that to our advantage."Sand said with a wink.

"Whatid she mean by dat?"Race asked jack quietly.

"I has no clue but I guess we keep up whit her and we'll find out."

AN: And chapter 3 is done! I'm on a role I tell ya! Tell me how I'm doing and what I can do to make it better. Thanks for reading!


	4. Chapter 4

AN: Here we go again. Another day another chapter so I'll just skip all the dilly dally and dive in. I own nothing of newsies that includes people places and things. Technically anything that goes with the movie is not mine, except Sand of course.

**Chapter 4: The End of a Day Leads to a New Day**

Sand was walking down the street feeling like it was a new day, but her day was far from over and she knew that. Sand felt better right then than she had all day. She heard the boys running to try and catch her. That made her smile. Somehow even when she was still kind of achy she could get in front of a crowd. When they finally reached her Mush asked, "So whe'e we goin' Sand?"

"Anywhere whe'e we can boder some bummers." Sand gave a quick smile that brought everyone back to the fact that she was still a kid. Jack knew better than anybody that being the leader meant giving up a lot of time, time that could have been spent doing something fun instead of cleaning up after everyone.

Sand tucked her hair under her hat trying to hide the fact that it was longer than Spot's. She gave a quick turn and asked, "Has Spot enter'd da buildin'?"

Racetrack said matter of factly, "Yous look more like him now but I can still see da difference. Yous need someone that's stupid to fall fur dat."

Just then the Delanceys walked around the corner. Sand heard someone mumble, "Just in da nicka time."

Sand gave an evil looking smile and turned to the huddle behind her and quickly said, "Act normal." After that they all started talking about the headlines and how many papers they sold and things like.

"Hey Jacky-boy. Looks like ya got a new kid in da crowd." Oscar said as they approached. Quickly Sand turned around and saw confusion fill their faces.

"Spot? What are ya doin' in 'Hattan?" Morris asked with fear in his voice.

Sand quickly snapped, in her best Spot voice, "A little birdie told me dat you tried ta hurt me sista, and on her first day outta da hospital. Dat's low boys."

"No no- we didn'- we wasn't gunna-" They both babbled.

"Put a lid on it ya lousy bummers!" Sand yelled at them and they both stopped promptly. "Get outta me face. If I hears you even come near her again I will personally soak ya."

When she was finished they both ran past them as quickly as they could. When they were both a good ways down the street they all busted out laughing trying to say sentences but only little snippets came out. After a good few minutes Sand Lifted her hat and let her hair fall from underneath it. They all had started to stop laughing but little giggles came out every once in a while. Sand didn't really know where they were walking too but she didn't care. Once they were out of laughter, Sand started to get dizzy again and the spots came back slow at first but then there were so many she could hardly tell what was what. She felt herself leaning back but couldn't stop herself. She felt an arm come around her waist to keep her up. She tried to find the face of the person holding her but when she looked up there was only black spots.

"Blink! Take her back ta da lodge!" She heard Jack yell.

"What should we do, Jack?" Mush came in after Jack's yelling.

"We got aftanoon papes ta sell. Blink I'll get someone ta take ya spot." Jack replied.

That was the last thing she heard before she blacked out. She woke up a few times only to see the sky and tops of buildings and hear Blink say, "It'll be alright." She thought it was more for him than her. When she was finally in the lodge her blackouts turned into sleep. She had dreams of nothing but darkness for the most part but before she woke up she saw flashes of people: Her mother, Spot, Blue, Jack, Race, Mush, Blink, Goliath, Scarecrow, Shark, and so many others. When her eyes opened she looked around to see beds pushed closer to hers. She could only assume they did it in case her father came to get her while everyone was asleep. She quickly maneuvered through the tight maze and went to the bathroom area.

She quickly cleaned up the best she could but steered clear of the stitches. When she was done she shook her hair and placed the hat on her head and went to the stairs that lead to the roof. Before she could open the door a boom filled the whole building followed by a streak of white light. Sand knew it was a thunder storm but when she tried to turn the knob it was frozen. _New York. Gotta love it._ Instead of taking her usual perch at the top of the building she went back to her bed and just laid down listening to the thunder and lightning and every once in a while hail hit the windows. When the sun didn't rise she realized it was a lot earlier than she thought. To pass the time she started thinking.

She thought about how all the people she considered family were affected by her nearly dying. When she black out the day before, they were all so serious. Jack yelling orders and people being a bit more protective than they usually would. Then she got to thinking about what would have happened if she ended up like Jo. Spot would be devastated but it would turn into anger most likely and everyone would of felt and looked like Skittery did just the day before. Her thoughts were broken by someone moving in their bed.

She turned her head from the bottom of the bunk above her to the bed next to her where she thought the noise was coming from. Her eyes fell on Blink propped up on one elbow just watching her. "Whatcha doin' up so early?" he whispered to where only she could hear.

"I think I've slept enough for one day." she replied just as quietly with a small smile.

"Go back ta sleep."

"Can't. Been tryin' to since it was thunderin' like crazy out dere."

"It was rainin'?"

Sand rolled her eyes and shifted back to staring at the bottom of the bunk. "Go ta sleep Blink."

"Wait." He said quickly. She rolled back over and looked at him. "I was wonderin' if ya heard anything I said before da other guys came back."

"The only thing I heard was in the street. Yous was saying it'll be alright I think. Why?"She questioned.

"It's jus'-I don' know if yous was ready ta hear it or how ya would take it."

"Well, now may be the only time fur you ta tell me since everyone else is dead ta the world."

"Ok…but yous gotta promise me ya won' tell nosbody."

"You got it Blink. Cross my heart."

"I don't know how ta put it."

Sand didn't want to interrupt any train of thought he might have had so she kept quiet. Her stitches gave the slightest pain so she shifted more on her stomach than her side. She looked down to fix her shirt so it wasn't too tight on the stitches. When she looked up Blink was closer to her face and he put his hand under her chin and brought his lips to hers. Her shock took over and she couldn't move. When he pulled away he said, "Do ya understand what I was tryin' to say? I couldn' think of words so… dere."

"Blink, I…I don' know-" Sand stumbled for words.

"I know…ya don' care fur me dat way. I mean who could really…"

"Blink, stop dis nonsense. Any goil would be lucky ta have such a carin' and kind person like you. And I jus' got outta da hospital. I don' know if I'm…mentally fit ta decide anything so quickly." Sand said with all her heart.

"I understan'. See ya when the sun comes up." Blink said as he rolled over to turn away from her.

Sand went back to staring at the bottom of the bunk. Suddenly, the box where she hid her feelings busted open. She realized she didn't just have feelings for Skittery but there were also some for Blink too. Her mind started to flood with all the things that could go wrong with her having feelings for both of them. They were best friends and if Skittery found out he would lock her out forever. Skittery was that way. Protective of his emotions and the people around him, but when you cracked his shell he was kind, funny and so many other things Sand's mind raced over. Blink was just as kind though, but got hurt far too easily even if he didn't show it. He not only was that but he could listen and wouldn't judge you for what you said and told him. Her head was overcome with thoughts like this and she couldn't find an end or a solution to any of it. She turned the rest of the way onto her stomach and she cried softly into her pillow hoping it would clear the problems from her head.

AN: NUMBER 4! I'm rockin' this sequel! Just playing with you guys. Tell me what you think or if you have any questions feel free to ask.


	5. Chapter 5

AN: Ok so chapter 5…here it is. Know that I own nothing of Newsies and if I did I probably wouldn't be writing fan fiction…it would be more of owner fiction.

**Chapter 5: Same Old Thing**

Sand stopped crying after she noticed people were turning or switching positions to try and get comfortable. Instead she just went back to trying to think the whole thing out. She pushed as much of her confusion as she could out of the way and thought it all through one more time. Skittery and Blink had a lot in common and she figured that's why they were friends. She had to clear something up but didn't know what. Eventually her thoughts came down to one scenario. Skittery would be in some sort of trouble that could kill him and Sand could save him but she had Blink telling her to come with him. Then Blink gets in some nasty trap. Sand had to choose but she didn't want too. That's when the truth came to her. If anything happened to either of them she would be devastated over Skittery, much like he was with her. When her thoughts went to Blink they were the same feelings she would feel if anything happened to any of the Manhattan newsies or the Brooklyn newsies, except for Spot.

Sand took a deep breath feeling like a weight was lifted from her chest and her head. She knew she would have to tell Blink, but she wasn't sure when they would have a free moment that wasn't surrounded by all the other newsies. She also thought Blink wouldn't be too happy to hear her revelation but knew it was right for both of them. Sand had her knight, now Blink just had to find his damsel. Sand looked out the window and saw the sun start to come up. She moved out of the bed and moved to the closest window.

What she saw was something she hardly ever saw. The sun was reflecting off the windows of the next building showing off each little drop that fell from the edge of the roof. She looked past the droplets to see a rainbow taking shape in the distance. She felt a smile cross her face and stay there for a long time. She watched the sun come higher and higher in the sky, melting the hail from the early morning storm and drying the puddles of rain. The sun then melted the rainbow. That's when she heard someone walk up behind her.

"Crazy storm we had, eh?" Kloppman's voice asked.

"Sure was…" Sand trailed off.

Kloppman started yelling at the boys to get up and the morning rush was jumpstarted. Sand wasn't paying much attention to any of it though she was still captivated by the picture she stared at. She moved away from the window only when she heard feet heading down the stairs. Sand picked her hat up off the floor where it fell, she assumed, sometime during the night.

"Mornin'. How'd ya sleep? Blink says you was out by da time he got ya up he'e." Skittery said as he was leaning against the bed.

"Slept jus' fine but woke up far too early." She said giving him a smile. "How are ya from your soakin' yestaday?"

"Slept alright but feelin' kinda sore. Nutin ta worry about. Betta get goin' before dey leave us." Skittery said heading for the stairs.

Sand followed as quickly as she could. When she reached the bottom practically everyone was gone. The only people in the room were Kloppman and Boots, but Boots was walking out the door. They walked a little faster just so they could catch up with the others a little bit, but it wasn't working. They were the last at the circulation platform, but the gates were closed. Sand smiled. Somehow they managed to be late and early.

"Spot wants us ta head ta Brooklyn afta we finish da mornin' round." Skittery said to add his voice to the chatter around them.

"What for?" Sand asked slightly confused.

"Dunno. Just said ta bring ya to Brooklyn." Skittery replied just as the gates open.

Sand thought that she needed to talk to Spot about everything that had happened. She and Skittery waited in the back of the line listening to what the others said about the headlines and how they were going to 'improve the truth' a little. When they reached the front they got the usual and headed for their corner. Sand was unstoppable with her 'paying for the hospital bill' bit. She was nearly out of papers when a familiar voice asked, "Can I buy a paper?"

Sand turned to see Ashlaya. She couldn't help the smile that came to her face. Ashlaya may have been hinting her father in on things but Sand knew why. Her father did what he does best and used the people she was closest to to force her to tell him everything. "Ashlaya! I heard you went back to Chinatown. How is everything?"

"Everything is fantastic. My family is doing well and we even have our own little business. How are you? I heard you went to the hospital." Ashlaya asked with concern.

"Well the only thing that matters is that I'm not dead yet." Sand said.

"I best be going my sister may start to worry." Ashlaya said with a hint of sadness in her voice.

"Alright, but you should come around more often." Sand said giving Ashlaya a quick hug before she ran off in the direction that she came from.

After the rest of their papers were sold, Skittery and Sand headed for the Brooklyn Bridge. Sand saw that there was an odd smile on Skittery's face that told Sand he knew more than he was telling but she didn't pry. They weren't even half way over the bridge when a group of the Brooklyn newsies blindfolded her.

"Hey, stop it ya bummers!" Sand said shocked by the sudden darkness.

Then someone picked her up. "Relax Sand. Spot wants it ta be a surprise." She couldn't place the voice but she stopped trying to rip her blind fold off.

She couldn't tell where they were going, but before she could explore where they might be going they came to a stop. The blindfold was taken from her eyes and she saw the front of the Brooklyn Lodge.

"I coulda walked he'e without a blindfold on." She said quietly.

"Quit talkin' and just go in." Skittery said in her ear.

She rolled her eyes but headed for the door. Sand was shocked to see what was just past the doors. There were five newsies from Long Island. Shark, Scarecrow and Snippy were there. Then her eyes fell of Goliath who was still looking bad but better than Sand remembered. He was still bruised and one of his eyes was nearly shut all the way but the giant smile he had on his face lit up the room. She looked above their heads and saw a sign made of old newspapers that said 'Happy Birthday Sand'. There were a few letters that were backwards but she didn't care. Then she heard footsteps coming down, when she looked up she saw Spot with a big smile on his face.

"Surprise." He said once he reached the bottom stair.

"You snake you." Sand said pushing the tears back.

Spot walked over to her and gave her a hug. "By snake I'm guessin' ya mean handsome devil. Now goes and say hi ta everybody else."

Sand walked over and gave a big smile. "Well boys, How's da Island holdin'?"

"Jus' fine, Sand. How's you holdin'?" Snippy asked concern filling his face.

"Do I look like I is dying?" Sand said in return.

"Nah. Nutin can touch Sand Conlon." Goliath said cheerfully.

"You got dat right. How yous doin' anyway?" Sand asked wanting to know the truth.

"I is jus' fine Mish Sand." Goliath replied with that same big smile.

"Dat's right. He's from Da Island." Shark said proudly. "Some of us couldn' of done wat he did." he gave a wink after that making her think he meant Tin Man and she knew he probably couldn't have.

Sand saw her vision blur but she stopped the tears from coming. Goliath must have seen the tears because after her eyes cleared he ran to her and hugged her. "It's ok, Mish Sand." That's when the tears came, but they weren't tears of sadness but joy. Goliath let go of her and she went to her knees so that her eyes were at the same level.

"You is the bravest person I hav' eva met." Sand said getting up and wiping her eyes.

"Do ya boys min' if a steal her fur a minute?"

They all shook their heads and Spot grabbed her arm and took her up the stairs. He led her to the end of the hall and shut the door behind them. Sand sat on one of the beds in the room.

"Spot…dis is-"Sand began.

"Sand, I couldn' get ya a proper birtday present on ya birtday but I got cha one now." Spot said walking over to a dresser and opening a drawer.

He walked over to the bed holding a box and sat down next to her. He handed her the box. Sand looked at him. He was biting his lip. Her only guess was because he was wondering if she'd like it. She looked down at the box and took the lid off slowly. She saw a small wad of silver lying in the bottom. She used two of her fingers take a piece of the wad which she now realized was a chain. As she pulled it out of the box, she realized there was a small pendent at the bottom. She looked closer at it and saw it was a circle about as big as a quarter with a heart etched on it. Sand was holding it in her hands when Spot took it and opened a latch she overlooked. When he handed it back to her, she saw that there were two pictures inside it. One was of their mother and the other was Spot. Her eyes flooded with tears and this time they weren't held back. "Now even when we ain't dere you won' be alone." Spot said quietly watching her face.

She wrapped her arms around Spot's neck and said, "Thank you." She shifted back to sitting and asked, "Help me put it on?" He lifted the chain from her hand and unhooked it. When it was one she said, "It's the greatest present Spot. You is da best big brudder anyone can have."

"It ain't that great." Spot said shyly

"Spot dis musta cost a fortune." Sand said holding the small circle in her hand.

"Nah…not a fortune…" Spot said smiling at the look on his sister's face. "You might wanna get goin' soon. The aftanoon pape is about ta run."

"You is probly right…"Sand said as sadness filled her then she remembered she had to talk to Spot about her problem. "Spot I needs ta talk to ya about somethin'."

"An' what is dat?" Spot asked raising an eyebrow.

"Blink told me he loved me I tink…" Sand said quietly.

"What? How?" Spot asked taken aback by what she told him.

"He didn' really say a thing. He just…well he kissed me." Sand said awkwardly.

"But…but what about Skittery?" Spot asked face full of confusion.

"I think Blink is more of a friend who don' know what ta do and I like Skittery differently…"

"Well you shoul' just tell Blink dat."

"I will. Thanks for everything Spot."

"Dat's what I'm for."

Sand and Spot walked out of the room. Spot said that everyone should be heading home soon and they all went outside. Spot walked Sand and Skittery to the bridge before he went his own way to the Brooklyn platform. Sand and Skittery walked in silence for the most part, but Sand said before they were bombarded with people, "Thank you."

"No problem." Skittery said with a smile.

By then they were half way to the lodge and Sand was confused, "What 'bout the paper?"

"Jack tinks you should stay off the afternoon pape for a while just so ya don't get too tired."

Sand sighed, "Fine, but I ain' happy 'bout it."

Skittery walked Sand upstairs to her bed. She gave a sigh and fell on the bed staring at the bottom of the bunk. She listened to the distant yells of newsies trying to sell the papers. She felt better than ever. She knew exactly what she was going to do with her Blink problem and she had the greatest birthday party and present. For once in her life, she didn't feel like the world would implode.

AN: Chapter 5. Check. On to chapter 6 next. Hope you enjoy the story please tell me what you think or if you have any questions.


	6. Chapter 6

AN: Here we are on chapter 6. I hope you enjoy it as much as I enjoy writing it. I own NOTHING of Newsies. Period. Now on to the story!

**Chapter 6: The Fuzz**

Sand didn't know how long she was staring at the bottom of the bunk, but people started coming in to check on her when she saw the sun shine through the window. She said the same thing to all of them, "Yeah I'm fine. Don' sees da trouble in lettin' me go sell the pape." Some smiled and walked out other just left. In between these chats with a few of the newsies, her thoughts went to Blink and how she was going to tell him. Then they shifted to how he would take it. She hoped he would understand. Before she knew it everyone was coming in to go to sleep. Sand found this odd because she didn't feel tired at all. She lay in bed trying to go to sleep it just didn't come. She would toss and turn yet could find no peace. Finally, she gave up and just laid on her back and closed her eyes.

When she opened her eyes next, the sun was shining and there were a crowd of boys getting ready. Sand quickly got up but felt light headed after so she stood still for a minute. Once the light headedness passed she went downstairs. After she was down stairs she went outside and sat on the curb. She enjoyed the silence that came with early morning. It wasn't too loud or too quiet. It was the perfect medium. That was soon shattered by the sound of people running down the stairs. Sand stood up and brushed her pants off, then waited for the boys to come out.

She saw the small huddle that had been escorting her to everything walk out. Sand quickly joined in not saying anything but listening. That's when she realized there was a bad feeling in her stomach. She tried to get her mind to switch to something else. She just couldn't get shake the feeling that something bad was going to happen today. Sand was on high alert from then on. She sold her papers like usual and all the same people bought a paper but she was always looking around to find an unfamiliar face. Skittery must have noticed because he asked, "Sand? Yous ok?"

"I don' know. I jus' have a bad feelin' about taday." Sand said quietly shifting uneasily from side to side.

"It's fine. Relax, we'll head ta da lodge soon. Ok?" Skittery said concern showing through his eyes and voice.

"I might jus' head dere now if that's alright." Sand turned and headed in the general direction of the lodge.

"Wait Sand, at least let me wolk wit' ya till we find someone ta take ya dere." Skittery said catching up to her.

Sand said nothing though she just crossed her arms and kept walking. Skittery wanted to try and help her he just didn't know what to do. They were only a few streets from the corner when Blink came across yelling, "EXTRE! EXTRE!"

Skittery quickly ran over to him and asked, "Blink, can ya take Sand back ta da lodge. She's a little jumpy for some reason."

"Yeah no problem. I'll just keep me extre papes." Blink said staring at the three or four papers he had in his hand.

"Nah, I can sell dem fur ya. Won't take but a minute." Skittery said taking the papers from him.

Skittery ran off back to the corner, while Blink walked Sand back to the Lodge. Blink started to head up the stairs but stopped when he realized Sand wasn't following him. "What's wrong?" he asked moving from the stairs back to her.

"We need ta talk." She said quietly.

"Alright. Shoot." Blink said not totally sure what was going on.

"About da other night. I've been thinkin' and…and I still consida you as mor' of a friend." Sand sighed after.

"Yeah…I figured it was a long shot." Blink said scratching his head.

"Don' mean we can' be friends, right?" Sand said quickly.

"Yeah. We jus' act like da other night never happened." Blink's eye showed that he truly understood and that made Sand feel a lot better.

Just then Skittery walked in and asked, "What happened da oder night?" with confusion all over his face.

"Nutin' Skit. We just had a talk." Blink said slightly shocked from the sudden appearance of Skittery.

"Tell me what happened Blink." Skittery said coming closer to Blink as he talked.

"Well ya know how I sorta told ya I liked a goil? Well dat goil was Sand. We jus' cleared it all up though."

Skittery didn't seem too convinced by Blink's version of what happened. "Yous told me what jus' happened. I wanna know what happened de oder night.

"Well…I sorta might have-" Blink stuttered.

"Spit it out, Blink." Skittery said slightly agitated.

"I kissed her alright! Is you happy now?" Blink yelled not knowingly.

Skittery seemed shock more now than ever. The pieces just weren't falling together. Once he finally accepted the fact he exploded.

"Blink. How could you do this ta me! Yous know I like her and…and ya go and do dat." Skittery's mouth wouldn't stop the flow of words that came out.

"It's not like I married her or nutin', and yous was the one dat told me to tell her how I felt." Blink retorted.

"Dat's before I knew it was Sand!"

Neither of them could say anything else because Sand screamed, "I CAN'T TAKE THIS! I'M GOIN' HOME!"

After that she headed for the door but Skittery asked her a simple question, "Why?"

"Good Lord! Yous has ta ask dat question? I can't be da reason you two fight. And if ya do like ya doin' now I won't be here ta be in da middle of it." Sand said still obviously annoyed at both of them. When Sand turned to walk away neither of them tried to do anything to stop her. As she walked in the direction of Long Island, Boots came running towards her. Mush followed not long after him. Once he saw Sand he yelled, "RUN!" and that's when Sand saw the police break through the crowd chasing after Boots and Mush.

Sand quickly turned on her heel and headed back to the lodge, thinking it was the only safe place at that moment. The boys seemed shocked when she ran back in. They ran to her side trying to calm her but she just said, "We need to hide now! Quite worrying over me they're coming now!" After she said that a police officer came in and headed for Sand, but she quickly ran up the stairs hoping there was a roof close to one of the windows. She heard the heavy footsteps chase after her but she knew that Blink and Skittery weren't safe either. She had no clue what to do, but her instincts told her to run so she did. She was in the room and ran past all the windows to search for a roof. Sadly, none were close enough.

Sand was standing still trying to figure something out when hands grabbed her. The fingers of the officer were over her stitches and when he gripped her sides to try and keep her from running a scream of pain was ripped from her throat. She saw the spots begin to blur her vision but she refused to be taken under their spell. She fidgeted trying to free herself from the grip but when she moved another scream would escape and more spots appeared. After several attempts to escape more officers came to help with the banshee as the officers had nicknamed her from her shrieks of pain. Eventually, with the help of several other officers, they figured out that she had stitches and steered clear of them from then on. Four officers had to carry her down the stairs, two holding her feet and two holding her arms. She was continuously flailing trying to get them to drop her but when she would get one foot free and kick an officer in the face another would come with an even stronger grip on her ankle.

Before Sand could do much of anything else they threw her in the back of a police vehicle. She was helped out of the floor by Jack and Mush. She looked around the small compartment to see that it was still mostly empty. Sand also was Boots in with them.

"Where's everybody else?" Sand asked with confusion on her face.

"We were the last few ta be caught. The rest of us are in da other ones." Boots said quietly.

"Dis is what he meant by regret? No offense Sand but you fader is an ass." Jack said knowing that it didn't offend her at all.

"I suppose were off ta jail. Ya boys ready?" Sand asked suddenly feeling the sharp pains in her side the adrenaline was hiding.

"What's wrong?" Mush asked seeing her pain.

"Yous prob'ly heard the screamin' right?" They all gave a small nod and Sand continued, "Some idiot decided to grab me from behind and jabbed his fingers inta me stitches." Sand lifted the edge of her shirt to see what it looked like. The boys gave a wince when they saw how red it was. Sand on the other hand was near tears from the rush of pain that hit her. She felt the sudden jolt of movement in the car. That's when the spots came back with a vengeance causing her vision to turn black. Sand could hear the distant voices of Jack, Mush and boots but couldn't make out what they were saying.


	7. Chapter 7

AN: Here we are chapter 7. So I have a heads up for you guys who read these AN things. I'm going to be heading on vacation soon and this may be the only chapter I put up before I leave. I own nothing of Newsies and if I did they would be forever young.

**Chapter 7: Life in Prison (For a night)**

Sand awoke to the chill of concrete on her side. It helped cool the burning pain that seemed to never stop. As she reluctantly got up, she felt hands steady her. She hadn't realized she was wobbly till she saw what it was like when she had help. She saw who was helping her and gave an angry sigh.

"Spot. Why on earth are yous in here? They come and attack you?" Sand said very agitated with her so called father.

"Yeah, yous know betta dan anyone dat he's a heartless vulture. You alright? Some guys say dat you was screamin'." Spot's face was hiding what it could but his eyes revealed concern.

"Yeah some dumbass decided to stab me wit' his fingers." Sand said lifting the corner up the slightest to see if it was still as red as she thought it was. It looked bad. The red wasn't as bad but it was still a noticeable shade or two redder than she would be happy with. Spot only stared at it. Anger filled his whole face. "Not now Spot. He'll take advantage of how we act in here."

After that Spot slowly started to calm down and realized she was right. Sand saw that only her and Spot were in the cell. She looked through the bars to see all who was caught. She wasn't too shocked to see most of the Brooklyn and Manhattan newsies. Her father had no clue about Long Island. He only thought that she stayed with Spot and the newsies across the bridge. Sand looked down to realize she was twisting the locket Spot gave her.

"Looks like we're gunna be here a while." Sand said sitting in a corner away from the door.

"Yeah, and even betta news is that prick is gunna be our lawyer." Spot said finding a seat next to her.

"Not if I have anything ta say about it." Sand said wondering how late it was. "What time is it?"

"Eh. I dunno…maybe three." Spot said looking out the window.

"We'll wanna get as much sleep as we can. We gotta make up for the lost day." Sand said with a smile.

Spot always seemed to act like he was in a better mood when he was with his sister and she knew it. Sand put her head on his shoulder and felt him relax a bit more. They sat there, not saying a word for a long time. The whole jail where the newsies were kept was quiet. Sand didn't move till she felt someone poke her shoulder. She looked to see Boots on the other side of the bars pointing to the end of the hall. There was a dirty looking jailer coming down the middle of the two lines of cells. He stopped in front of the one Sand and Spot were in. Sand hadn't realized he was carrying a tray of food. He unlocked the door and put it on the ground in front of the door. Sand looked and saw it had rolls with different arrays of jams and jellies and a metal cup of water.

"Eat." The jailer said in a deep throaty voice.

"Where's da food fur the rest of the newsies?" Sand said looking into his eyes.

"Was only told ta give you food." He replied his face never changing.

"Well, I guess I'll be da one who distributes." Sand said passing more than half the rolls to the people on either side of her. "Share don' be stingy." She looked to the cells at the end and saw hands try to pass the bread to the other side.

"You ain't suppose ta do that." He said showing some anger.

"Really? It's me food. I'll do wit' it what I will." Sand said taking a roll and splitting it with Spot.

The jailer turned and walked away angrily. Sand only gave a smile at her triumph. Spot was laughing at her side eating the soft insides of his half of the roll. Sand walked to the bars of her cell and threw the last few rolls to the other side and watched as rolls were split so many times and handed to the other newsies along that side of the jail.

Suddenly there was a different jailer in front of her. He grabbed the front of her shirt and pulled her closer to him ramming her head into the bars. "You ain' suppose ta share food."

"Sorry, but as you can see there isn't any food left so how are you suppose to know if I really didn't eat it all? You have no facts to support your theory." Sand said with all seriousness.

"You little twit!" He said ramming her head into the bars again but instead of holding her there he let her fall on her back. When she brought her head up he was in the cell. Sand looked to Spot and shook her head. She knew he'd get her message not to attack. The jailer started to hit her and all she did was laugh.

"Whatcha laughin' for?" He asked with anger in his voice.

"I'm laughing because you're an idiot. You're soakin' a lawyer's daughter. One that he wants back real bad, but you knew that right?" Sand said with laughter in her voice as the jailer backed towards the door slowly. When he was out of sight, Spot went over to his laughing sister to check and see if she was alright.

"I think I have a broken nose, Spot." Sand said between her dying giggles.

"Yeah…that's where da bloods comin' from. I t'ink."Spot said right before he popped it back into place.

"Jesus Spot! Warnin' would be nice!" Sand said after she smacked him a few times from the pain.

"Let me check ya head. He hit ya pretty hard with those bars." Spot said grabbing her head and searching for any blood. "Ya clear."

"Might want ta get some sleep." Sand said loud enough for everyone to hear.

"Why?" Jack asked from the cell across the hall from theirs.

"Well it's getting' dark and we have a trial tamarrow mornin'." Sand said quickly.

With several sighs of anger, everyone tried to calm down and sleep. Then it hit Sand. She had no clue where Skittery was. Then she remembered she walked out to avoid being in the middle of a fight, but was somehow in the middle of it. Sand held back the tears that threatened to come, and walked back over to her corner. Spot coming to sit next to her was the last thing she remembered before she fell asleep.

Sand and the other newsies awoke to the sound of a stick being dragged along the bars. They all awoke slowly and were herded into the court room. The judge said his whole little speech before they actually started the trial. "Who will be representing you all?" The judge said after his first speech.

"Actually I will." Sand's father said.

Right after he said will Sand said, "Not. I believe I speak for all of us we don't want the man who put us in prison to represent us." Her father gave her an angry look, but only looked to the judge for hope.

"How many of you wish to be represented by…um…what's your name?" The judge started.

"Sand. Sand Conlon, your honor." Sand said sound the best she could with a broken nose.

"Alright. How many of you want to be represented by Ms. Sand?" The judge finished with a wave of all the newsies hands. "One question, before we officially start. What happened to your nose?" the judge asked with a mixture of curiosity and concern.

"Oh, I was sharing my food with the others and the jailers didn't like that." Sand said with a smile.

"Well…shall we begin?" The judge asked.

"Yes." Sand and her father said together.

The judge turned his attention to Sand's father, "Why did you bring these children here?" the judge asked in a serious tone.

"I came to gain custody of my daughter. The other children were helping hid her and also resisted custody along with several other crimes. I only wish to raise my daughter properly." Sand's father said in a strong tone.

"Your honor, if I may point out. Why does he only wish to raise his daughter properly? Why not his son as well?" Sand's voice even hated the feel of the words coming of her tongue.

"You have a son, Liam? I had no clue." The judge said with only the slightest shock.

"Yeah he does, an' he's right here." Spot said moving towards the rails that confined him and the other newsies.

"That is a good point she made, Liam. What do you have to say to that?" The judge said seeming to switch which side he would be for very slowly.

"I believe that my son is quite capable of taking care of himself. My daughter is quite clearly in need of help if this could happen to her." Liam said pointing to Sand's face.

"You wanna see if I can take care of myself? Why don't we go find someone and see if I can beat them?"Sand said losing her temper for a short time.

"See she already has violent tendencies." Her father pointed out proudly.

"Have you ever thought I have 'violent tendencies' because you walked out on us after you found out what was wrong with mama!"Sand yelled. "Your honor," Sand started after she got control of herself, "If I may say. That man seized to be my father the day he walked out on us. If I am forced to go with him you can guarantee I won't be there more than a month. The people you have behind these rails that have done crimes, they became my family. They have done some things but you can't look me in the eyes and say you wouldn't have," Sand rolled her eyes trying to think of something, "oh, stolen food because you didn't make enough money to buy it for your family. All they have done is tried to keep their family alive."

"These children are criminals your honor! They have broken the delicate line that separates the civilized and heathens!" Liam started to yell feeling he was going to lose what advantage he had.

"Liam, I don't care for your opinion at the moment." The judge said looking very angry with him. "Court rules in favor of the news boys and Ms. Conlon. If you," The judge said pointing to Liam, "ever try to gain custody of either of your children you will be arrested."

"Thank you, your honor." Sand whispered to the judge after she approached the bench.

"I have a daughter much like yourself. Any fool stupid enough to give up such a gorgeous daughter has no right to be a father."

"Damn straight." Spot said coming over to his sister.

All the newsies walked out free and without conviction. Most of them walked pretty slowly but once they saw it was almost time to sell the paper, they all started running to their circulation platform. Sand and Spot were the only ones who weren't rushing. They parted when they reached the Manhattan platform. Spot only gave a tip of his hat and a smile before he walked off.

When she was waiting in line to get her papers she heard someone clear their throat behind her. She turned to see Skittery and Blink. Sand just rolled her eyes and turned away. "Please Sand, jus' listen." Blink's voice said.

"I don' wanna." was all she said in return.

"Well I'm gunna tell ya either way. Me and Blink figured it out. No mor' fighten. Swear." Skittery said.

By then they were at the front of the line. "The usual, Weasel." Sand mumbled. "Skittery…I can'-" but she never finished because once she turned to talk to him he kissed her. Her nose gave a scream of pain and she pushed away trying to cover the tears of pain that were coming up. She ran out the gates staring at the ground trying to figure out a way to stop the pain that wouldn't leave her nose.

Sand kept running till she was a good few blocks from the platform. When she found a quiet little alley she turned in it and let the tears come thinking they would somehow help the pain, but they didn't. That's when she heard someone come in the opening of the alley. "Leave me be." Sand said trying to wipe her nose without causing pain.

"Afraid I can't do dat." Morris voice said surprisingly with concern.

"Whudda you want." Sand's voice contained anger but thought it revealed the pain she was feeling.

"The Bull Dogs wanted me and me brother ta watch ya. I jus'…I jus' can' do that no more. Plus I had a few broken noses. Let me see." Morris said kneeling next to her. She gave an eye roll and looked at him. "Yeah that's bad…a little off though. That's why it might be hurten ya. Can I fix it?" He asked and waited for her nod to move it the few centimeters back into place. She could feel the pain slowly diminish. "Betta?" He asked.

"Yeah. Thanks by the way." She gave a faint smile. "Why are you bein' so nice anyways?" Sand asked the question that kept coming to her mind since he came in the alley.

"I don' have lots of friends. And Oscar gets borin' ta talk too." Morris answered.

"So you just wanna friend?" He gave a slight nod. "You know you're not that bad. I dunno why you try ta act that way. If you were nicer I'm sure the other newsies would like ya too."

"I dunno know. Oscar is pretty set on helpin' the Bull Dogs." Morris said quietly.

"So that don' mean you have too." Sand said quickly. "I better go sell these papes." She gave a smile. "Maybe we can do this again sometime. When, you know, aren't puttin' my nose back into place." Sand walked out of the alley glad she got to see the real Morris and not the Delancey brothers. Sand went to a different spot feeling that Skittery probably hated her now after she just ran like that. She sold her papers just before the afternoon paper was starting to sell. She didn't go to the platform though she went back to the lodge and stared at the bed. Then she remembered what Morris said. The Bull Dogs wanted me and me brother ta watch ya. She knew know that she may have won a battle with her father but there was a war that was going to happen. She just didn't know when it would start.


	8. Chapter 8

AN: So guys I'm back from my vacation and I'm off to write more chapters. I own nothing of Newsies and if I did there would be at least one girl newsie in the movie.

**Chapter 8: Making Nice**

Sand was fidgeting with her locket trying to make sense of what Oscar had said about the Bull Dogs when Jack came up looking cautious. He relaxed a bit when he saw she was just staring at the wall. "What ya doin' Sand?" He asked coming to sit next to her on the bed.

"There's a problem Jackie. A problem I can' fix by me self." Sand said not taking her eyes off the wall.

"Well dats why you got all of us here newsies ain't it?" Jack said with a smile.

Sand took her eyes off the wall she had been staring at. She lost track of time and had no clue how long she had been sitting on the bed staring at the same spot on the wall. "The Bull Dogs…they ain't happy. Oscar told me dat they told him and his brudder ta watch me. And-"

Sand was interrupted by Jack saying with a look of shock, "Oscar? Why on earth would ya listen ta a bummer like Oscar?"

"Jack, da Bull Dogs have a connection ta all the newsies t'ru people like da Delancey's." Sand said trying to clear things up but by Jack's face she knew he didn't believe her.

"He's a Delancey. He's gunna stab ya in the back and smile when ya scream. I don' trust him and neider should ya." Jack said with a voice flat and full of anger.

"But it makes sense Jackie! I killed somebody…not just somebody Jackie da leader of da Bull Dogs. They can' be ta happy with me…" Sand trailed off going back to fidgeting with her necklace and staring at the wall.

Jack just sighed and stood up. Sand heard him walk down the stairs and heard him mumble something which resulted in a group sigh and many cries of 'When can we's go ta sleep?' and 'She ain't da only one livin' here!' Sand heard a different set of footsteps come up the stairs. She heard the normal footstep and then a footstep that made the stair creek a little too much, like it hurt to stand on it only the slightest. She knew who it was before she saw him. Sand closed her eyes and gave a sigh hoping he would leave.

"I shouldn' of done dat wit' your nose messed up. You ok?" Skittery's voice came closer as he reached the bed and sat down next to her.

"Yeah…jus' fine. Did Jack tell ya about what happened?" Sand asked looking into his eyes then looking away when she saw the hurt in his eyes. She didn't know if it was from her running away or that she was just in pain in general.

"Nah. he said yous would tell me." Skittery said trying to sound calm and not worried about her.

"Oscar helped me wit' me nose taday and said dat the Bull Dogs asked him and his brudder ta watch me." Sand felt fear creep into her mind but was determined to hide it till later.

"Do ya believe him?" Skittery's voice was full of concern.

"Yeah. It's just the way he…oh I dunno. He just seemed like he wanted ta help." Sand said feeling confused.

"Den I tink ya should trust him. Even if he seems like a bumma." Skittery said quietly. "Ya know I neva finished my story about why I left." Sand looked at him and saw him wringing his hands. Then he put his hands over his eyes and slowly brought them down his face. "I told ya dat Blue told me ta leave. Right?"

Sand couldn't speak she just nodded her head slowly up and down. "Well…ya see…Blue knew dat Jo treated ya different fur a reason and I tink he knew what dat reason was. Blue saw dat we was getting' closa too. It's funny I rememba da Bull Dogs comin' in every once in a while and Jo would jus' stare me down and I neva had a clue why. Blue told me ta leave cuz he didn' want ya ta get hurt by me bein' in an 'accident'." Skittery put a lot of infuses on accident. "Blue made up some stupid reason 'bout me bein' a traitor so dey wouldn' catch on and come afta me. He fixed everything up. Where I was gunna stay everything."

Skittery realized he was staring at the ground and quickly turned his head to see Sand's face in shock. She had no clue about any of the story. Blue had just told her it was time for him to leave. Sand's thoughts were interrupted by a scream saying, "I don' care if dey're havin' a moment! I'm gunna sleep!" and several others followed in his example. The first up was Specs and Sand assumed that he started the parade of newsies. "Go to sleep. We have anuder eventful day ahead of us." Skittery smiled and went over to his bed and was asleep before she could even get comfortable with her broken nose.

Sand awoke the next day feeling the chill seeping in from the outside. Winter wasn't waiting and she knew it was going to be colder than it was the day before. She heard a few street vendors out and grabbed the few coins she had and went down stairs and outside. She got several pairs of sock and a scarf for a third of the cost the vendor was asking. Sand had many gifts and haggling was one of them. She was heading back to the lodge when she felt an arm wrap around her waist and a voice say, "It's a bit cold. Ya really shouldn' be out at dis hour." Sand turned her head to see Oscar's smiling face.

"Glad fur ya concern but I am just fine." Sand said not slowing her pace down.

"How's the nose? It looks betta." Oscar said stopping in front of her forcing her to come to a stop.

"It feels betta but it won't be truly betta fur a while." Sand said feeling her feet go numb just standing still.

"Ya might want ta get some cardboard. It'll help with ya feet a little anyways."

Sand heard the noises of the lodge coming slowly to life and knew she had to get back soon. "Well Oscar I best be getting' back soon. I'll be sure ta get me some cardboard dough." Sand said giving a smile as she passed him.

Oscar turned and headed into the alley where Morris was hiding watching the whole thing. "Good job Oscar."

"I don' know about dis Morris. I'm not sure if we should trust dos Bull Dogs." Oscar said looking a bit nervous.

"Go with it! This is what we gotta do to get good wit' dos guys! Do ya wanna be soaked?" Morris said in a harsh whisper.

"No…I don' guess." Oscar said staring at the ground.

"Good. All we's gotta do is keep dis friendship ting goin'." Morris said as he led his brother back towards their uncle's home.


	9. Chapter 9

AN: Sorry for such a long wait on this chapter. Lots of storms rolling through and powers been going crazy. Now that it's working I'll jump right into it. I own NOTHING of Newsies just Sand she is mine and that's about it.

**Chapter 9: The Hidden Truth**

The Delancey Brothers didn't know it but Spot had taken an early venture to make sure Sand was doing alright. It just so happened that on his way he ran into the little meeting with Sand and Oscar. He hid out in the shadows of a nearby alley. Once Oscar and Sand had parted ways he went to the entrance of the alley and heard what the brothers were talking about when they thought there was no one around. By the time they finished talking Spot was close to jumping out of his hiding spot and soaking them both, but somehow he kept his cool and ran for the lodge when they were well out of sight. Spot climbed the stairs and was searching for his sister when everyone was just getting out of bed. He got a lot of odd looks and he knew why. The 'Hattans never saw Spot in Manhattan. They always came to him.

"Spot? What cha doin' he'e?" Jack asked as he sped past him and to the bed he knew was Sand's.

He saw her sitting on her bed putting extra socks on. He let out the breath he was unknowingly holding and went to sit next to her. "Talkin' wit' a Delancey? Really Sand dat's a bit low furs you."

She turned and looked at him slightly shocked that he knew about Oscar. "Why yous over he'e anyway Spot? Isn' Brooklyn gunna crumble wit'out you?"

"Nah. It'll be fine fur a bit." He gave a smile and quickly said, "You shouldn' trust him…I heard what dey said afta ya left and it ain't good."

Sand put her hands to her eyes clearly avoiding her nose, "Do I really have dat bad of judgment?" She looked up from her hands waiting to hear a response.

"Nah. You jus' want ta make people betta and some people can' get no betta." Spot said putting his arm around his sister and pulling her close to him so no one else would hear. "Oscar and Morris are workin' wit' the Bull Dogs. My guess is dey tryin' ta get ya ta make ya pay for what happened. Be careful about this Delancey friendship, you undeastand?"

"Spot when did I get like dis? I use ta be much betta at tellin' if people were lyin' ta me." Sand said trying to hide the sadness that only Spot could understand.

"Well what did he tell ya?" Spot asked trying to understand the situation better.

"He said dat the Bull Dogs had him and his brudder watchin' me and that he just wanted to have a friend and be done wit' them."Sand said quietly.

"Well, maybe his brudder is keepin' him in da game and he wasn' really lyin' ta ya at all. Call him out on it. Dats what I would do." Spot said hoping he was saying the right thing.

She suddenly wrapped her arms around his neck and laughed. "Spot you're da greatest." Then she got up and went down the stairs and followed the crowd to the circulation platform. Before Spot knew it everyone was gone so he headed back to Brooklyn feeling like he truly ruled the world.

Sand had caught up to everyone in a matter of seconds. She looked around the crowd that she was in the middle of trying to find Skittery. "Lookin' for someone?" She heard his voice say.

She turned and saw him smiling next to her. Sand couldn't help the smile that came to her lips. They walked the rest of the way in silence that was much needed. Sand felt like Skittery knew everything before she even knew. She hooked her arm through hi and put her head on his shoulder. They walked that way for a little while but broke apart once they reached the platform and got in line for papers. Sand spotted Oscar talking to Morris. She walked over and whispered in Oscar's ear, "We need ta talk."

He followed her not arguing or complaining about anything. Once Sand was sure that Morris couldn't hear and that they were alone she smacked him across the face.

"What was dat for?" Oscar asked confused.

"You lie to me anymore and you won't just get smacked." Sand said angrily.

"I'm sorry…" Oscar said quietly.

"You betta be." Sand said with anger controlling her voice.

"Not for lyin'. Well I am but yous is gunna hate me afta…well…"Oscar trailed off and stared at the ground.

"What did yous do?" Sand said concern taking over her anger.

"Not what I did. What dey did. Morris said they got the bait. I don' even really know what dat means but I don' tink it's good." Oscar wasn't finished when she ran to the platform. She looked at the heads then found Jack.

"Tell everyone ta be careful." She told him quickly before running out of the gate and heading for the bridge that connected her to her brother.

She ran to the lodge but it was empty. It shouldn't have scared her as much as it did. She tried to calm down some. Once she could breath somewhat normal she ran for the platform in Brooklyn. She couldn't find anyone there either. That's when she decided to run through the streets looking for any newsie who might know where Spot was. While she was tied up in her thoughts she ran into someone.

"Sorry…" Sand said not really caring who it was. When she saw the newspapers that cluttered the ground around her she looked up and saw Jet. She gave a sigh and interrupted his rant about watching where you're going. "Jet have you seen Spot?"

"Nah. He left ta check on yous. He ain't back yet. Why?" Jet asked being curious.

"No. No. No." Sand repeated over and over crouching against a wall.

"Sand? What's wrong?" Jet said kneeling next to her.

"Dey took him Jet. Dey took him." Sand said through the tears that refused to hide any longer.

"Who? Who took Spot?" Jet said looking like he was about to explode from confusion.

"The Bull Dogs Jet. Dos…dos…" Sand couldn't finish through the guilt that consumed her. "It's my fault. It's all my fault."


	10. Chapter 10

AN: Here we go again! Another chapter another day. I own nothing of Newsies so don't go crazy.

**Chapter 10: Bait n Catch**

Jet hardly had time to ask if she was ok before she got up. She started walking away, and really fast. Jet had to nearly run to catch up to her. "Sand, Is you ok?" She turned and he saw her eyes showed the same cold that Spot's had when she was taken.

"Peachy Jet. Just peachy. I might need you ta help lata though." Sand said as she turned and walked away.

Sand was walking with anger towards the Manhattan platform hoping that someone might be there someone there to help her with anything. She was lost. Spot wouldn't just be taken. They had to have done something. Sand kept saying that he would be ok but the more she thought about it the less likely it seemed. She forced her mind to stop and went to find the only people that might know where Spot was. Sand was only a few blocks away from the platform when she found who she was looking for.

The Delancey brothers were walking down the street heading for her. They didn't seem to of seen her and she wanted to keep it that way for a while. Sand put her head down and headed for the sidewalk that the Brothers were on. As they got closer Sand could feel a knot of anger coiling in her stomach. Sand positioned herself to where she would be in the middle of the two when they finally reached her. She gave a smile when they nearly ran into her, but before they could get away she hooked her arms through theirs and said in a harsh whisper, "We need ta talk."

"Well Sand, if ya wanted ta hold me hand ya coulda asked." Morris said reaching for her hand but was greeted by a hard slap to the face.

Sand turned them down an alley where she was certain no one would walk through. She let them go and just looked at them. Oscar looked guilty and obviously wanted to know what was going on. Morris on the other hand looked pleased with himself and all that was going on.

"Where is he?" Sand said with the same anger that forced her to leave Brooklyn.

"Who? Ya brudder?" Morris gave an evil smile. "If ya wanted him all ya had ta do was ask." That's when Sand heard slow footsteps coming into the alley. She felt a chill and knew her brother wasn't with the footsteps.

Sand had no clue what to do. She turned to see some of the Bull Dogs. Her heart was racing but she was trying to hide the fear from them. She put on a smile and said, "Now here's the fun." She got a few laughs from some of the members of the pack that were closing her into the alley.

"Sand, ya need ta come with us, the easy way or the hard way." Someone she had seen before but couldn't put a name to the face.

"Um…How about No way. I like dat choice betta." Sand said smiling holding her ground as they came closer.

"Rules are rules. One or anudder." A voice from the back said.

They were getting closer and Sand could count almost ten in front of her. Her thoughts traveled back to the night that put her as head of Long Island. It was a lot like what she saw but dark not in the middle of the day. She was trying to decide if she should run or fight, but quickly realized that she would have to fight to be even able to run because the Bull Dogs were sealing of the exit that she knew would lead to help.

"Sand what's it gunna be?" The face without a name asked.

"What will happen eitha way?" Sand asked not as strongly as she had hoped.

"Well one way ya don't get soaked the otha ya do." Nameless, Sand started to call him, replied quickly.

Sand's thoughts were everywhere. Thinking of what could happen before it happened but the Bull Dogs were getting to close for comfort and Sand couldn't think straight.

"Will ya idiots back up before I throw up?" Sand screamed unintentionally.

They backed away but only a little. Sand let the breath go that she had been holding. She felt the walls and the dirt street under her move. To save from looking stupid she slowly found her way to the ground and crouched with her hands in front of her to keep her balanced. She closed her eyes and cleared her head trying to see past the dizziness that came to her. She heard an angry sigh after a few seconds.

"Will ya get up?" Nameless said grabbing her wrist.

That was the last straw. Her mind went into defense mode. She twisted her arm to where she had his wrist instead of the other way around. She pulled him toward her and punched him in the stomach and then let him fall against the wall. Sand stood up and looked up to see everyone still in shock. She made a break for it. She slipped past a few people sliding against the wall. A hand grabbed her arm, but she slipped out of the grip and ran. She had no clue where she just ran. They were ready for her to run because several more members of the Bull Dogs walked out in front of her. She tried to slow down but she ended up sliding under them due to all the sand and dirt that covered the sidewalk. She staggered up and started again but this time when she turned the corner she nearly trampled Skittery and Jack. She didn't have to say anything. The look on her face was unmasked and showed her fear. Skittery looked around the corner and saw Sand's pursuers.

"Shit." Skittery said before he got up and helped Sand up. "Run." He said and the three of them were running to nowhere.

Sand's thoughts were going everywhere but nowhere was safe. She changed her thoughts to something else. She smiled because she was glad Skittery and Jack were with her. She would never tell Jack but he felt like another big brother to her and she was glad that he cared even if it was a little too much sometimes. It was after that thought that pain began to radiate from her stitches. She knew that if she kept running it would hurt a lot worse. She started to slow down but as they approached a store the spots began to take over her vision. She sat down on some crates by the door. Skittery and Jack noticed quickly that she wasn't following anymore and doubled back to see what was wrong. They didn't have to say anything because when they were close Sand said slightly out of breath, "I can't keep runnin'. I can'. They took Spot and I…I gotta save him. Go I'll be fine."She ended with a weak smile.

But running wasn't an option because the Bull Dogs were catching up to them and weren't showing sign of slowing down.

"Well…it seems ta me we ain' got much of a choice. Let's go Skit." Jack said grabbing Skittery's arm and pulling him away. Skittery put up a fight to stay but lost. Sand's eyes filled with tears but she refused to show them any emotion. They were coming closer but Sand was relaxed and calm. She studied her arm that now had several scratches loaded down with dirt from where she slide under the guys earlier. Sand watched as the first few people ran past her obviously not seeing her.

Nameless came up to her and asked, "You tink dis was funny or sumetin'?" She didn't say a word. He motioned some people over to her. Two guys grabbed her arms and waited. Sand was confused why they waited though. They caught her now shouldn't they be leaving? Nameless walked into the alley that was near the store. Once he was sure that a few of the other guys were blocking the sidewalk he punched her over her stitches. Nameless gave a smile then grabbed her nose. "Why don't ya give us a kiss?" He said raising her head up still holding her nose. When he had her head close to his she rammed her head forward hitting him in the nose. She heard him scream slightly. His nose wasn't as bad as hers but all she knew was that it hurt.

"Let's go." Nameless said with a wave still holding his nose.

Sand was carried out of the alley and put into a wagon that was slowly being filled with Bull Dogs. Sand sat in the bottom of the wagon with her knees brought up to her chest. She tried to take up as little room as possible and be unnoticed. The wagon was creaking once everyone was in. Sand heard a soft whip and felt the wagon give a jolt and they were heading to a place Sand was sure she would never want to be.


	11. Chapter 11

AN: Another one bites the dust! I own nothing of Newsies. Know that.

**Chapter 11: War**

Sand was in the same position in the wagon till it stopped. She didn't even want to move and sometimes she felt like she couldn't move from the nerves that were wound so tight. When someone grabbed her upper arm and pulled her out of the wagon she didn't protest much. She kept her face emotionless. Sand looked around and realized she was back in Long Island. She smiled feeling nothing from being in the city were Blue died. She felt like she'd meet the same fate too. Sand was shoved through the doors of a large house Sand had not seen before. She looked around and saw that it wasn't much of a house just a hollow structure. She could see the beams and the wood that made up the roof. There was a single chair that Sand saw and it was occupied by an unconscious and beaten Spot.

Sand grinded her teeth together trying hard to hid the anger and concern.

"How do ya like da place, Sand?" Nameless asked with a reach of his arms over his head with a smile.

"It could use some mud and a fence but other than dat it's perfect fur ya pigs." Sand said with a smile but the joke wasn't taken lightly and she received another punch to the stomach. "Well you idiots can't take a joke." Sand said a little quieter than she would have liked.

"Ya know Sand. It's your fault dat Jo died. If you woulda just done what he asked none of dis woulda happened." Nameless said walking over to Spot.

"Now ya and I both know dat this ain't nobody's fault but Jo's." Sand said realizing now who Nameless was.

"And why do ya say dat?" Nameless asked getting angry.

"Will, you weren't there. Your brudder pulled a knife. You can't always believe your stupid mutts. I didn' want ta fight him but ya do crazy things fur love. Like you doin' whatevea your gunna do ta avengin' ya brudder. You and I both know dat you neva wanted ta be a part of the Bull Dogs. That was always Jo. You wanted ta be some big lawya. But I had ta fight Jo ta save the person I love." Sand said feeling her emotions coming up.

She was looking at Will and saw his eyes tear up, "I gotta Sand. We already have gone too far. I gotta follow through." his voice was shaky.

"No not if ya don' want ta. I had to do what I did. I thought I was going ta die, Will. In that fight over the knife I was just tryin' ta get it away from him then he got me right here," Sand wiggled out of the guys grip to pull the side of her shirt up to show him. "I thought I was going to die. I didn' want Spot ta do somethin' he would regret like yous is about ta do so I killed him to save my brother."

Will seemed confused like he didn't know what to do. "Did Jo pull da knife?" Will asked the question to one of the guys behind Sand. She saw the silent tears that fell but was sure no one else did.

"Yeah he said it was in case sumtin went wrong." a voice behind Sand replied.

"What went wrong?" Will continued his string of questions that were going through his mind.

"I don' know. He and Sand was talkin' I was holden a kid up. He told her ta leave but she didn' cuz somethin' 'bout family. Then Jo got angry over Skittery I guess and pulled the knife. Then the fight started and she said somethin' ta him before he fell." The guy explained.

Sand felt the tears sting her eyes, but looked at Will and knew he was heartbroken. His big brother tried to kill someone. "What did you say?" He asked Sand in a choked voice.

"I said…if I go you're comin' wit' me." Sand said never taking her eyes off Will.

"Let her go." Will said breaking eye contact after a few minutes.

"What?" The guy holding Sand's arm asked dumbfounded.

"Let her go!" Will yelled in anger.

Sand felt the pressure drop from her arm. She walked to stand in front of Will. "I'm sorry…I can't even imagine what it would be like." Sand said wrapping her arms around Will and slowly letting the tears run down her face.

"I forgive ya." Will said after he stood there for a minute. "Can you forgive me?"

"Nothing to forgive. No ya go and be a hot shot law man, got it?" Sand said looking into Will's eyes.

Sand walked over to the chair that Spot was sitting in and untied his hands from behind him, but that was all she could do before the structure was attacked by newsies coming in from every door. They all instantly started fighting. Will was trying to explain but he couldn't be heard over all the noise.

"All you bummas get outta here!" Sand yelled using her anger to make it louder. The newsies closest to her stopped then told the others to stop before they got in trouble.

"What cha doin' Sand?" Jack asked coming through the crowd.

"Well I was leaving." Sand gave a smile. She looked around at all the newsies that were in the confined area. "So dis is what cha did when ya ran off?"

"Didn' have ta do much." Jack said with a smile.

"Shut it Cowboy. I say we go home." Sand said turning to Spot. "Nimrod wake up." Sand said hitting Spots cheeks lightly. Spot started mumbling something that no one understood so Sand screamed right next to his ear, "Wake up!"

"Spider stole me money!" Spot yelled nearly ramming his head into Jack.

"What are ya talkin' about Spot?" Sand asked while Jack looked like he was about to die from trying not to laugh.

"Sand I'm gunna kill you!" Spot yelled trying to get up but he felt a sharp pain and sat back down. "What da hell did ya scabbers do ta me?"

"Nothin' Spot I just saved ya life is all." Sand said helping Spot up and wrapping an arm around his waist to support him. Jack got on his other side and did the same. "Did ya happen ta grow an inch or two Spot? Ya seem taller."

"Ya saw me dis mornin' and didn' notice nuthin' new. Are ya just tryin' ta get me in a good mood?" Spot asked catching onto her plan.

"Ya caught me." Sand said with a smile.

"Here, use the wagon." Will said coming up behind them and passing them to get into the driver's seat of the wagon.

Sand and Jack helped Spot get settled in the back then hopped in themselves. Sand yelled at the Long Island newsies to go home and get some sleep and she would be back soon. They did as she said and walked back to the lodge. Some of the Brooklyn newsies were in the back since that was the first stop but the others would have to walk back to their lodges. It was a short ride to Brooklyn maybe it was just because they were all joking around in the wagon. Sand helped Spot up to his bed in the lodge.

"Ya sure yous is ok?" Sand asked feeling concerned for her brother.

"Yeah I'll be back on the streets carryin' da banner before ya know it." He gave a smile.

"I'll check on ya in a few days. Don' be doin nothin' stupid." Sand said smiling and kissing her brother lightly on the forehead. She walked out the door and gave a sigh of relief. The war was over or so she hoped.

Jack had sent Will and the wagon back to Long Island. He thought it was getting too late. Sand was shutting the door quietly behind her.

"Let's go home." Sand said walking past Jack who hadn't heard her walk out.

"Alright just don' walk so fast." Jack said running up next to her.

They walked the short distance back to the Manhattan Lodge in silence that they both needed, but before they walked in the door though Sand stopped Jack and hugged him. "Thank you." she whispered quietly.

"No problem. Us newsies we gotta stick tagether." He said returning the hug.

Racetrack came up to them and nearly ran into them not paying attention. When he did see them he chuckled and said, "Oh no. I'm gunna have ta tell Skittery."

"5 ta 1 I'll soak ya." Sand said laughing as they walked into the lodge.


	12. Chapter 12

AN: Believe this to be the last chapter of this story. Hope you readers like it!

**Chapter 12: Two Months Later…**

Sand had been back in Long Island for roughly a month. She stayed a little longer in Manhattan to make sure Spot was alright. She left after she felt that he was alright. Skittery wasn't too happy about her leaving but she knew Long Island needed her more than he did. He was reluctant but Sand said that she would visit when she came to see Spot.

It was the end of another normal day and Sand kept thinking about the past. She looked at Goliath who you couldn't even tell was soaked except for his nose was always a little off. Sand smiled. Her nose was healed mostly but she still found herself avoiding it in case it still was tender. Everyone was hanging around the lodge, playing with sling shots or talking about getting away. Sand found a perch in a leafless tree to watch what was going on. Long Island may sound interesting but really everyone dreams of Manhattan or Brooklyn. They were the most exciting places in New York. Sand was glad to be home and know she would be safe even if there was nothing to do in Long Island. She had been to visit Manhattan and Brooklyn once since she had gotten back and she felt like that wasn't enough but walking to Brooklyn and Manhattan was almost a day journey just to get there. Sand twisted her locket that had never left her neck since Spot gave it to her.

"Sand someone's coming." Shark said from the bottom of the tree.

"Who is it?" Sand asked confused on who might be coming to Long Island so close to dark.

"I can' tell. It's too dark." Shark replied.

"Alright." Sand jumped out of the tree. "Let's go."

Shark followed Sand to wherever this mystery person was coming from. She heard someone stumble behind her. Sand turned and smiled at Goliath.

"Ya just like bein' in da middle of the action don't cha?" Sand asked with a smile.

"Dat's where da fun is." He smiled back waiting for whatever Sand and Shark tooth were waiting for.

Sand was starting to get impatient after only a few minutes. It was a good five minutes before the sound of footsteps could be heard. Sand made her face blank and was prepared for anything. The light had started to hit the dark shape revealing a person. Once Sand saw his face she ran and hugged him.

"Skittery what are you doin' here?" Sand asked shocked that he came.

"I decided yous shouldn' be da only one dat has ta walk ta see people." He said sounding tired.

"Dis is what we were worried about? I'm goin' ta bed." Goliath said as he walked away.

Sand turned to see the Shark was following him. He gave Sand a wink and told everyone, "Get in the lodge Boys! You all need ya beauty sleep."

"Hope ya don' mind me stayin' here fur da night." Skittery said in her ear.

"No trouble at all." Sand said turning her head to face him.

He looked into her eyes for a while then decided to kiss her. Sand felt happy and knew everything would be ok as long as Skittery loved her like she knew she loved him. Sand had no clue how long they were kissing in the street light. When he pulled away he said quietly, "I love you and I have since you first came to Long Island."

"I love you too Skittery and if you ever act the way you did after the arranged marriage news I will kill you." Sand's voice couldn't be serious through it all. She started to laugh and then Skittery joined in. They both walked to the lodge trying to quiet their laughter.


End file.
